NTT Docomo demos pressure sensitive Grip UI for smartphones

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NTT Docomo is using the CEATEC Japan 2012 show this week to show off a few of its concept products and features, one of which is a new way of interacting with a smartphone called Grip UI.

Being a Japanese company, NTT Docomo is very sensitive to the plight of the typical Japanese traveler who spends time every day standing on a crowded train using one hand to steady themselves and the other to interact with their smartphone. Grip UI is meant to make that one-handed interaction easier by adding pressure sensors to the left and right edges of a phone.

The sensors react to being squeezed and have a number of predefined “squeeze gestures” that respond to differing amounts of pressure at varying locations on the sides of the handset. For example, putting equal pressure on both sides of the phone unlocks the handset, squeezing just the top of each size (a pinch) launches the web browser, and squeezing the four corners launches the camera.

The squeeze gestures have also been implemented for apps apps, too. So, for example, squeezing the bottom of both sides of the phone when the browser is open brings up a search box.

With Sharp introducing 1080p 5-inch displays, and the Galaxy Note line proving popular, Grip UI could certainly come in useful for navigating one-handed on larger smartphones, or so-called phablets. If The Verge hands-on video is anything to go by, though (viewable at the link below), Docomo needs to work on the pressure sensitivity before shipping Grip UI in a phone.